Introduction
British Airways are one of the world’s largest international airlines it operates both domestically as well as internationally. The company operates internationally with airlines flying in more than five-fifty destinations all over the world. Since the company carries out its operations all over the world there are many macro-environmental challenges that the company faces. Because of these challenges the company needs to develop and adapt dynamic strategies in order to combat the different challenges faced.
Marketing is one of the functions that are carried out in any organization and that plays a great role in the operations of the company. In the case of the British Airways holiday package, the function has a great and important role it plays in the organization. Marketing has played a great role in the marketing of the British airways holiday packages. This is because it has created awareness of the packages to different customers all over the world. This has been possible through internet advertising whereby adverts on the packages are put on the front pages such that when a person is browsing personal information the first thing to view is the advert. Also, the adverts have been placed on the web pages of the British Airways online bookings.
This strategy has resulted in increased awareness of the products and as we know whenever customers become aware of a product in the market what follows is making decisions regarding that product or service. Through awareness creation, many of the customers have made positive decisions regarding holiday packages.
Also through marketing, the brand name of the company has been built, this is because it is used to market the products and services they offer. The more people are informed of a product or service the more the brand name and image is built in the minds of those people. The marketing function in British airways has played a great role in building the brand name and image of the products offered including the holiday packages. Marketing of the holiday package also creates the brand name of the company in the midst of a highly competitive environment.
Marketing also plays important role in British Airways holiday packages, this is because it persuades customers to go for the holiday packages. Through the marketing activities that the company carries out the company has managed to survive in the competitive airlines market. Also based on one of the reports of the company the sales of the company have increased to large extends because of the marketing functions.
The marketing function has played a very important role since based on the report the holiday packages have experienced a 100 percent increase in online sales of the packages. This has been a result of strong marketing strategies that have enabled the company to build its brand name in the market against the competitors. Apart from increasing awareness and persuading customers to purchase the marketing function has also enabled the company to achieve a competitive advantage against its competitors in the market hence an increase in market share.
The marketing department does not operate alone it interacts with other departments in order for its plans to succeed. The finance department plays an important role and it is involved when marketing plans are made in order to ensure that there are sufficient funds to support the marketing operations. The human resource department is also very essential because it provides sufficient human resource to implement the marketing strategies. In order for the department to succeed it integrates the decision-making team with all other departments.
Marketing planning process
In order to have a good marketing strategy, the first thing is to carry out a marketing planning process whereby the plan is set down and ways of implementing it effectively. Coming up with an effective marketing planning process is not an easy thing since there are many factors to put into consideration. Also, there are factors that tend to affect the marketing planning process this is because of the ever-changing business environment in which the business operates.
For the business organization to succeed and operate well, there is a great need of reflecting on the changes that take place in the environment. Also, decisions on how to change the marketing mix for the organization’s products and services have to be made in order to ensure that the marketing plan carried out best fits the organization’s operations. The marketing planning process involves several processes that have to be carried out first before the implementation.
There are several marketing stages that should first be addressed before setting up the marketing planning process. The first step of the marketing planning is the goal-setting stage, this is the first stage, and setting the goals involves two major things. The first component of goal setting is the development of the mission statement; the mission statement shows the purpose or the aim of the business organization and is the foundation of a marketing plan. Depending on the kind of mission statement set a market planning process will begin but under the guidance of the mission.
The other component of goal setting is the definition of corporate objectives. Corporate objectives support the mission statement and they are usually in the same direction as the mission statement but they are detailed and diversified. The setting of the mission statement and the definition of the corporate objectives lay down the foundation of the marketing planning process.
After goal setting the next step is analyzing the current situation, analysis of the current situation of the business organization is very important. This is because it helps to identify the different important areas that need to be tackled and the challenges that may arise. Analysis of the current situation in the business environment involves several strategies that include marketing audit, SWOT analysis, and marketing assumptions.
Marketing audit and SWOT analysis are very important in marketing planning this is because a thorough analysis of the market and provides a clear understanding that is used while making marketing planning. In other words, they form the basics of a marketing plan.
Marketing assumptions are also made in the process of analyzing the marketing situation of the business organization. The marketing assumptions are analyzed and it is determined whether they were met, also the ways that can enable implementation of the assumptions are identified. The other very important stage in the marketing planning process is the creation of the marketing strategy. Marketing strategy is very important in the process because it is based on the current situation of the business organization as well as the objectives and mission set by the business organization. The creation of a marketing strategy involves other components that are highly considered in order to come up with an effective marketing strategy.
The components include setting up marketing objectives and strategies to be used to meet those objectives. Objectives are set based on the mission and general objectives of the business organization and the strategies that can effectively meet those objectives. Another component is the forecasting of the expected results, a forecast is carried out in order to determine the expected results of the implementation of the marketing planning process. After forecasting the results then alternative plans are created, the reason behind this is to ensure that in case one of the plans fails there is another one that can be put in place. (Marketing teacher, 2008).
The final part of the marketing planning process is the allocation of the marketing resources and monitoring the implementation of the plan. In order for this step to be implemented effectively, a marketing budget is set down whereby all the financial requirements of the plan are analyzed and financial resources are allocated to different areas that need financial support. The other component of the final step of the marketing planning process is the creation of a detailed action plan. The action plan represents the way in which the marketing plan is going to be implemented effectively. The action plan consists of all the details of the marketing planning process. (MacDonald, 1995).
These represent the four different stages of the market planning process and all the components of each step. The implementation of the planning process is usually based on the size and the complexity of the business organization implementing it. This means that different business organizations can implement the process but differently.
Marketing audit
Marketing audit refers to the thorough analysis of the market internally, externally as well as competitive aspects. Through marketing audit, it becomes easier to understand the business environment surrounding the business organization and its effect on the operations of the organization. Carrying out a marketing audit is very important in a business organization; this is because it helps to analyze both internal as well as external strengths and weaknesses within that business organization. A marketing audit is very important in any business organization this is because it is usually the determinant and the key point of the marketing planning process.
It also helps an organization to analyze the key areas in relation to the business environment that include the macro environment, microenvironment, and the internal environment. There are various tools that can be used by business organizations to carry out internal, external, and competitive audits and they include SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and Michael Porter’s five forces. (Tutor2, 2008).
SWOT analysis is also very important in any organization in a marketing planning process. This is because it enables a thorough analysis of the organization to be carried out whereby the strengths of the organization are identified, the weak areas, business opportunities that may arise, and threats that may come on the way. Through analysis of these four important areas enables the process of marketing planning to be easier since the areas that need more attention are easily identified as well as the ones that are pillars to the business organization.
PEST analysis is also an important tool in the analysis of the marketing environment in general. PEST analysis is used specifically to analyze the external environment. This is because it stands for Political environment analysis, Economic environment analysis, social environment analysis, and technological environment. These Are the major areas in the external environment. Analysis of the external environment by use of the PEST analysis tool is very important since it gives a clear understanding of the external environment and its effects on the operations of business organizations.
The third tool is Porter’s five forces analysis, these tools are specifically used to analyze the competitive environment. The five forces of competitiveness analyzed by the tool include buyer power, supplier power, competitors in the market, potential new entrants, and substitutes in the market. Analysis and understanding of these five forces enable the business organization to know exactly how to approach the market and develop strategies to help in creating a competitive advantage in the market. (Marketing teacher, 2008).
Opportunities and threats
There are various opportunities and threats that a business organization is likely to face in the macro-environment. Opportunities and threats are associated with external factors, some of the opportunities that are presented by the external environment include the following; use of the internet marketing due to the advancement in technology, this can enable the firm to develop and access newer markets.
The macro environment is growing to great extend hence creating better marketing opportunities globally. The British airways can utilize the global environment and make use of the marketing opportunities in the global market. Also the macro environment gives an opportunity for the business organization to venture in newer market segments and gain high profits from investing in these markets. This finally gives the business organization a competitive edge over the rivals in the market.
Macro environment also presents threats to the business organizations because of the different pressures that are found in the external environment. Some of the threats include the following:
Increased competition in the market segment is one of the threats that business organizations face in the macro environment. This is because the business is exposed to many competitors. Also issues of price raise in the macro environment whereby the competitors use prices as strategies to survive in the market, this may highly affect the pricing and profits of the given business organization. The other issues involve government taxation of the products and services offered by the business organization. (Marketing teacher, 2008).
When the business organization is aware of the opportunities and threats caused by the external environment ways to reduce the impacts are put in place and the opportunities utilized effectively.
British airways SWOT analysis
The company has faced threats in its business operations that range from the terrorist attacks of 2001 to the various security issues related to the airline. The other threat is associated with political instability in some of the countries where the airline operates. Apart from the threats the company has faced there are also weaknesses associated with its operations and that affect effectiveness of the airline. For instance the power of trade unions influences the operations of the company and government control that has resulted to increased competition.
Changing social and cultural lifestyle for many people creates an opportunity for the company since many of the people are traveling from different places. The major strength of the company is strong brand name it has managed to build over the years that attracts more and more customers. (MRICT, 2008).
References
HotelMarketing.com, 2005, British Airways Holidays reports 100% sales increase. Web.
MacDonald 1995, Marketing planning- strategic marketing process. 2008. Web.
Marketing teacher, 2008, SWOT Analysis lesson. Web.
MRICT, 2008, An analysis of British airways Marketing environment, Web.
Tutor2, 2008, strategic planning-the link with marketing, Web.